Asian Development Bank (May 2022) This report shares insights on capacity building for long-term care in six countries at different stages of population aging: Indonesia, Mongolia, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Tonga, and Viet Nam. It explores these countries’ long-term care systems and their particular…

wtwco.com (19.05.2022)  Trial private retirement savings system to be rolled out in select cities in China in an effort to support an aging population.

worldbank.org (10.02.2022)  The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated poverty and threatened livelihoods in Liberia. The need to respond to this challenge spurred the expansion and digitization of the government’s ongoing cash transfer program. The Liberia Social Safety Nets Project launched the…

Global Times (21.04.2022) China will soon start a new era of "private pensions" with the imminent implementation of a relevant mechanism, according to a report by the Shanghai Securities News published on Wednesday. The new mechanism, which is characterized by policy support from the government…

World Economic Forum  (17.05.2022) China is a rapidly graying country with those aged 60 or above reaching 267 million or 18.9% of the total population, and this may rise to one-third of the population before 2050. Welfare reform must work in tandem with social policy so as to make active aging…

Economic Research Forum (ERF) (February 2022) This policy brief assesses the impact of COVID-19 on Middle East and North Africa (MENA) labor markets through June 2021. We use data from the four waves of the ERF COVID-19 MENA monitor household surveys, spanning November 2020, February 2021, April…

developmentpathways.co.uk (2022)  The report builds on our previous research with ITUC, showing the economic benefits of social protection by examining the different financing options that states have at their disposal in order to strengthen and extend their social protection systems. The study…

europeansting.com (06.05.2022) China’s plan to “gradually delay” the country’s legal retirement age has managed to unify a wide variety of people around a single sentiment: they don’t like it. As a country looking for ways to address the fact that it may not have enough workers paying into its…

theconversation.com (26.04.2022) So low is Australia’s unemployment rate, the official count says there are now just 580,300 people unemployed – the least since 2009, when Australia’s population was one-sixth smaller than it is today. Compared to just before the start of the pandemic, 184,800…

Retirement saving is at the centre of the debate on rising income and wealth inequality. This column studies the role of the pension system in wealth accumulation and distribution in Denmark. The authors find that a pension reform in the late 1980s increased the savings rate and aggregate…

weforum.org (31.03.2022) All 13 Canadian provinces and territories have now signed up to the plan which will also create a national daycare system. 

brookings.edu (27.05.2022) The COVID-19 recession was born out of a public health threat. Thus, unemployment insurance (UI) was meant to insure people against income losses associated not just with involuntary job loss, as in a usual recession, but also with the choice not to work due to the…

 International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth (IPC-IG) (March 2020) Children and adolescents are exposed to a multitude of risks, which have worsened due to the socio-economic repercussions of COVID-19. This emphasises the need to improve the protection of children and adolescents, who…

brookings.edu (03.05.2022) Pension systems around the world faced a “stress test” during the pandemic—what you might call the “pension pandemic paradox.” On the one hand, there was pressure to allow access to pension savings as emergency support during a period of sharp economic downturn. This…

oecd.org (March 2022) This document provides an update on the use of job retention (JR) schemes during the COVID-19 crisis until the end of 2021 and takes stock of the different strategies employed by OECD governments to adjust them as the crisis evolved. It provides three key insights. First,…

GovInsider (April 2022)  Yet, advancements in healthcare and sanitation standards are helping adults live longer than ever before. Taiwan, in particular, is estimated to become a super-aged society by 2025, with one in five being over 65 years old, said Dr Jenny Su Huey-Jen, President of the…

Asian Development Bank (April 2022) The brief discusses how an array of tax reforms over time, both in policy and administration, could allow more progressive structures and improved revenue performance. It notes that tax structures could be improved through broader tax bases, especially better…

Pension Policy International (April 2022) The Japanese government is reportedly discussing plans to expand the coverage of its employee pensions and health insurance programs to all workers in the country. The proposal will be initially handled by a government panel of experts on Japan’s social…

ESCWA (April 2022)  Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, social protection systems in the Arab region were weak, fragmented, not inclusive, and non-transparent. They were also costly and unsustainable. Underinvestment in these systems and exclusion of vulnerable populations were key challenges. The…

The Dutch tax authority ruined thousands of lives after using an algorithm to spot suspected benefits fraud — and critics say there is little stopping it from happening again.

worldbank.org (31.03.2022) The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the fundamental role digital ecosystems can play in helping a country to rapidly deliver services and relief to its people, such as healthcare education, and social assistance. Countries that already had in place the “stack” of…

worldbank.org (2022) The Philippines’ experience in implementing the social amelioration program (SAP) in response to the Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic highlights the pressing need for financial inclusion, especially among the poor. The absence of a national identification (ID)…

etui.org (2022) The spread of Covid-19 and the ensuing adoption of lockdown measures have had severe consequences for European labour markets. All EU governments quickly made unprecedented economic and social support available to tackle the consequences of the pandemic. However, these measures…

Capital News (07.04.2022) The government has allocated Sh146.8 billion to cater for health care services in the 2022/2023 budget. Treasury Cabinet Secretary Ukur Yattani says the allocation will go a long way in improving the health care services in the country. “Better health care outcomes…

worldbank.org  (17.11.2021) The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the vulnerabilities of the vast and diverse informal economy as well as the lack of social protection schemes to provide timely support, especially to those in urban areas. To protect vulnerable individuals from shocks and build their…